Device for stretching and drying textile articles



Dec. 30, 1969 N, A, FELD ET AL 3,486,668

DEVICE FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING TEXTILE ARTICLES Filed Jan. 9, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS NELLIE AA/CO/VA Few 650265 J F640- DEVICE FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING TEXTILE ARTICLES Filed Jan. 9, 1968 Dec. 30, 1969 N. A. FELD ET AL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS FIG. 6

0 R m4 Wm M E a M FIG 8 United States Patent O 3,486,668 DEVICE FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING TEXTILE ARTICLES Nellie Ancona Feld and George J. Feld, both of 100 Avenue P, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11204 Filed Jan. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 696,539 Int. Cl. D06f 59/02 US. Cl. 223-69 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The device comprises a stiff board made of synthetic cellular foam material. The front and rear faces and edges of the board are compressed and serrated. The board is formed with small spaced holes for circulation of air therethrough. A sweater or other garment or textile article draped around front and/or rear faces of the board and around edges thereof, will cling thereto due to the roughness of the outer surfaces of the board. Attaching pins passed through the garment andinto the board aid in holding the garment in the board. The edges of the board are rounded so as to prevent sharp folds in the garment. A hook is attached to the board by means of a hard elongated member embedded within said board to prevent the hook from easily pulling out or from breaking through the board.

Certain features disclosed in our application Ser. No. 637,824 filed May 11, 1967, now Patent No. 3,425,143 are disclosed and claimed herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of'the invention The invention relates to devices for stretching, drying and blocking sweaters or other garments or pieces of textile material, or articles made of textile material.

Description of the prior art In the prior art can be found garment driers comprising wire screens with prongs, on foldable frames, onto which the garment is impinged. There are also prior driers comprising frames or hinged together parts which are inserted into the garment to be dried. There are also hinged together panels between which the garment is held.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described comprising a stiff, light board of cellular foam material which has rough outer surfaces to which a sweater or like article of textile material mounted thereon will cling, and which board will hold pins pressed through the article and into the board, and which is yet hard enough at its outer surfaces to withstand blows.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described in which means is provided for hanging up the board, said means being constructed so as not to damage the board or pry loose therefrom.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described comprising a board of closed cell plastic foam which has serrated and compressed front, rear and edge surfaces and in which the edges are rounded so that a garment may be applied to a front surface of the board with parts of the garment wrapped about edges of the board and against the rear surface, and without causing folds or creases in the garment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a strong, light and durable device of the character described which will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to Patented Dec. 30, 1969 BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing, in which are shown various illustrative embodiments of this invention, FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a device embodying the invention, with a sweater draped thereon for drya;

FIG. 2 is a partial rear view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line -44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial front elevational view of a device embodying a modified form of the invention, with parts broken away and in cross-section;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrating an- 4 other form of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the structure shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but illustrating yet another form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a partial front view illustrating a further modified form of the invention; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 1010 of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in detail to FIGURES 1 to 4 of the drawing, 10 designates a device for stretching and drying textile articles such as sweaters, embodying the invention.

Device 10 comprises a fiat, stiff or rigid board or panel 11 of light cellular synthetic plastic material such as closed cell expanded foam. Board 10 may be made of polystyrene or polyurethane. One form of polystyrene is manufactured by Dow Chemical Corp. called Styrofoam. The panels are preferably about one inch in thickness. They may be from three quarters of an inch to one and a half inches in thickness. The panel may be rectangular with rounded corners 13. Said panel has a front face 14, a rear face 15, side edges 16, a bottom edge 17 and an inner edge 18. Said edges 16, 17 and 18 are preferably rounded in outer cross-section.

The front and rear faces and edges 16, 17 and 18 are preferably compressed with a serrated roller to produce serrations and to compress the outer surfaces and edges of the board. By pressing a serrated roller hard against the board, the outer surfaces are toughened or hardened and the serrations are formed at the same time, to thereby prevent formation of loose small particles which wqald easily come off onto the garments applied to the board.

The hardened surfaces toughen the board against being broken by accidental blows or by dropping the board.

Means is provided to hang the board on a peg or the like support. To this end a hard elongated member such as a wire or rod 20 is inserted into the board in spaced parallel relation to the upper edge 18 and relatively close thereto.

Tempered hard steel wire may be used for this purpose. A metal loop or ring 21 may be passed through the board to surround the wire 20. The loop may pass through a through hole 22 in the board. A hook 23 may be con- 3 nected to the loop 21 for engagement with a peg or the like.

A pull on the hook is transmitted to the wire or rod 20 to prevent pulling the ring 21 out of the board.

The sweater S may be draped on the front surface 14, with the arms of the sweater wrapped about side edges 16 to lie against the rear surface 15. The material of which the board is made and its roughened and serrated surface will cause the sweater to cling to it.

The board 11 may be formed with a plurality of spaced small through openings 30 for passage of air to help dry the sweater.

Pins or prongs 31 may be passed through the sweater and board to aid in holding the sweater to the board. The hardened or compressed cells at the outer surfaces of the board aid in holding the pin to the board against prying loose.

In FIG. 5, there is shown a device a embodying a modified form of the invention. Device 10a comprises a board 11 substantially similar to board 11 of FIGS.l-4. However the wire or rod is omitted. Instead, a pair of aligned elongated tubes 40 of hard material, are inserted into the board from the opposite side edges 16 and close to the upper end edge 18. The tubes 40 may be made of metal and have outer flanges 41 contacting side edges 16 of the board.

A wire hanger 42 has a central hook 43 from which arms or shoulders 44 are inclined downwardly and outwardly. At outer ends of arms 44 are bent-back porti ns 45 from which horizontal terminal end portion 46 project inwardly into the tubes 40. The tubes will not easily break through the board 11.

In FIGS. 6 and 7 there is disclosed a device 10b illustrating a modified form of the invention. In device 1011, the board 11 has inserted thereinto, a pair of elongated hard wires 50 inclined outwardly and downwardly and provided with loops 51 which register at the middle of edge 18. A hook 52 has an eye 53 engagaing through the registering loops 51. A pull on the hook will not easily pull out wires 50 because the latter are inclined outwardly.

In FIG. 8 there is shown a device 10c embodying still another modification. An elongated screw shaped wire (helical) 60 of hard material is centrally screwed down into the board 11 through the upper edge 18 thereof. Glue is preferably applied to the screw before it is screwed into the board. The coating 61 of adhesive prevents the screw from unscrewing. Screw 60 has a loop 62 at its upper end. A hook 63 has an eye at its lower end engaging the loop 62 for hanging up the device 100 on a peg.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 there is shown a device 10d illustrating a further modified form of the invention. Device 100 comprises a board 11 like shown in FIG. 1. Said board however is formed, adjacent to its upper edge, with a pair of transverse parallel through holes 70' equally spaced from the middle of said upper edge. A downwardly opening channel shaped member 71 receives the upper edge portion of said board. Said member 71 may be made of plastic, metal or of any other suitable material. It comprises a top web 72 from which front and rear flanges 73 extend downwardly. The lower edges 74 of flanges 73 may project inwardly and be received in grooves 75 in the board. Flanges 73 have openings 76 registering with openings 70. Rivets or pins 77 pass through registering openings 70, 76. Said rivets may be hollow with their ends headed as at 78 to hold said rivets in place.

The web 72 is formed with a central opening 79 and with a pair of openings 80 equally spaced on opposite sides of said central hole.

An adapter 81 has a central loop 82 projecting up through hole 79, arms 83 extending outwardly from said central loop and engaging the underside of said web 72, and fingers 84 at the ends of said arms and projecting up through said openings 80.

A hook 22 may engage loop 81, for hanging the device 10d on a suitable support.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an article in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A device for stretching and drying textile articles, comprising a board of lightweight cellular synthetic foam material and having front and rear outer rough surfaces, and means to hang said board on a support, said board having edges which are rough at their outer surfaces, said rough front, rear and edge surfaces being serrated.

2. The combination of claim 1, said board being compressed at said front rear and edge surfaces.

3. The combination of claim 2, said edge surfaces being rounded.

4. A device for stretching and drying textile articles, comprising a board of lightweight cellular synthetic foam material and having front and rear outer rough surfaces, and means to hang said board on a support, saidboard having a plurality of spaced through openings extending from the front surface to the rear surface.

5. A device for stretching and drying textile articles, comprising a board of lightweight cellular synthetic foam material and having front and rear outer rough surfaces, and means to hang said board on a support, said hang means comprising a hard elongated member embedded in said board.

6. The combination of claim 5, and a hook connected to said hard elongated member.

7. The combination of claim 1, said board being compressed at said front, rear and edge surfaces.

8. The combination of claim 6, said board having edges which are rough at their outer surfaces.

9. The combination of claim 8, said rough front, rear and edge surfaces being serrated.

10. The combination of claim 9, said board being compressed at said front, rear and edge surfaces.

11. A device for stretching and drying textile articles, comprising a board of lightweight cellular synthetic foam material and having front and rear outer rough surfaces, and means to hang said board on a support, said hang means comprising a channel shaped member receiving an edge portion of said board, means to attach said channel shaped member to said board, and a hook attached to said channel shaped member.

12. The combination of claim 11, said attach means comprising transverse pins passing through registering openings in the flanges of said channel shaped member and in said board.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,521,100 9/1950 Sublette 22369 2,599,199 6/1952 Roberts 22369 2,854,178 9/1958 McDowall et al 22369' 3,207,394 9/1965 Claridge 223-109 FOREIGN PATENTS 600,200 4/ 1948 Great Britain.

PATRICK D, LAWSON, Prima y Examiner 

